I'm writing a musical and I need help figuring out a plot?

Question

This is what I plan to do: 1) Make a rough plot 2) Write the words to the play and music 3) Write the music
Is there a way I can make things better, or is this "system" fine?

I plan to write about the 1920s or Ancient Egypt. Something along those lines. I want the music to be jazzy kind of, so ancient egypt doesn't really work. Any other ideas on what I can write about?

Lastly, I need help actually figuring out the plot. I'm thinking about putting pictures on a slide show and writing down ideas as the pictures go by, but I'm not sure if that will work. Any ideas on how I can actually figure out the plot?

My school did "Thoroughly Modern Millie" which is where I got the idea about the 1920s, and I've seen parts of "Aida" on youtube, but I don't want it to be like that. I want to make an original musical not inspired from another musical. How do I "spark" my ideas?

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

Answer 1

Try writing the book first, without worrying about the music yet. Sit down, and think about what kind of a story you'd like to tell, and who you'd like to tell it with. (Hint: the smaller the cast, the easier it is to stage.) For your first attempt at writing, you're probably going to want to write a one-act play. The best one acts take place in one location, so modify your idea of your story to take place in one location. Like any story, it needs a beginning, middle, and end. Once you have an idea of the story you want to tell, write it down in its simples form - summarise the plot on a piece of paper, no more than a page or so. The plot can be in the '20s or in ancient Egypt...it can also be in the sandwich shop down the street. It doesn't have to be exotic to be fun. (Hint: You're better off writing what you're familiar with, especially at first.)



Once you know the plot, write the book - that is, the non-song part of the play. When you find something that would make a good song, just jot a little note for yourself, saying what information the song will contain, and keep going with dialogue after it ends. The point here isn't to have a final draft of the book, it's to get to know the story and the characters - it's easier to meet them in prose than in rhymed lines at first.



Once you have this done, go through and write the songs. With each song, think about what information you're trying to convey, and make sure that it comes across. Focus on making it sound like they're talking and NOT just making it cheesy. (Sondheim is my personal deity for all things musical theatre, but you'll have to find people you like to inspire you.)



After the songs are written, revisit the book and make sure it all flows seamlessly. Then, when you're ready, work on the music!



Once it's all finished, get some friends together for a staged reading to make sure it sounds as good in reality as it does in your head. Good luck!

Answer 2

Don't try to do the same theme as those two because then you won't be able to stop copying them.



Since you want to write jazzy music, try doing a setting that might seem unlikely for that genre because that will keep it interesting.

A few ideas...



Pre-Civil War South

Guantanamo Bay

The Vatican

An Office

An Amusement Park





...good luck.

Answer 3

just think of the most random things you can. pick a letter of the alphabet, just the first one that comes to mind, and then the first word that comes to mind after you think of that letter (I was thinking that started with the letter, but who cares, whatever comes first, unless it's simple like 'the' or 'a' or 'it' or 'or', you know...) but then just write some kind of scene about that, and then build onto it, do it as many times as you have to to get something you like. even if it's completely random and doesn't make sense, who cares, a lot of musicals have some weird scenes that nobody really understands. :)